Methods and systems for integrating procurement systems with electronic catalogs

ABSTRACT

A request for shopping is placed from inside a procurement system. Intelligent agents are launched to retrieve information from catalog sources web-enabled over the internet or within the intranet. Retrieved catalog information is aggregated and associated with other data items. Business rules are applied to make decisions on what part of aggregated information will be rendered to a User. Sorting/multi-level refining operations are enabled. The User selects one or more catalog results, whereupon an XML shopping cart is created and submitted to the procurement system through published interfaces. The procurement system is enabled to place an order on supplier web-enabled transaction systems.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12/833,396,filed Jul. 9, 2010, which is a divisional of application Ser. No.10/360,755, filed Nov. 30, 2001, which is now U.S. Pat. No. 7,756,750,and which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.60/336,057, filed Nov. 30, 2001, all of which are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to computer-based on-line procurement, whereusers of a buy-side procurement system can perform shopping fromnon-resident, distributed web-enabled catalogs.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

Lack of Supplier “electronic” Product Catalogs, or eCatalogs resident inbuy-side procurement systems has created a seemingly insurmountablebottleneck for Buyers automating procurement and supply chain processes.Companies have implemented expensive buy-side applications only todiscover that a mere fraction of their Supplier base can support theirautomation efforts without a substantial investment of both time andmoney. Thus, these companies may have only 5 or 10 Supplier eCatalogsresident in buy-side e-procurement systems, out of thousands ofavailable Suppliers, limiting the number of transactions through theseapplications and becoming a significant hurdle in achieving theirhoped-for return on investment.

Making matters worse, there are numerous manufacturers and distributorswilling to provide their product information to their customers viaeCatalogs. However, with multiple and disparate eCatalog formats (suchas CIF, ebXML, xCBL and others), syndication approaches (e.g., OBI, cXML“punchout”), technologies (e.g., XML, EDI), and taxonomies (e.g.,UNSPSC, eClass) available, only a small minority of these Suppliers havethe financial resources and technical skills to meet each customer'sunique needs.

Although the majority of Supplier web sites have basic productinformation and list pricing, they can't meet the Buyer's requirementsfor aggregation and user interface standardization, buyer-specificattributes such as pricing, part numbers, UNSPSC codes, integration withtheir eProcurement system. The bottom line is the lack of suppliercatalogs available to eProcurement Systems limits transaction liquidity,seriously affecting expected savings and ROI!

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The ViniSyndicate product is a unique combination of cutting-edgetechnology (Intelligent Agents) applied in an innovative process(Dynamic Syndication) to solve the problem of lack of buy-side residenteCatalogs. The innovative process involves a server-resident softwaresystem that links-up with buy-side procurement system, and utilizesIntelligent Agents to execute distributed search requests over theInternet to search for and securely access product, price, availabilityand other relevant content directly from Suppliers' web sites oreCommerce Systems. With superior abilities to search, aggregate,customize, enhance, analyze, display and manage eCatalog content,ViniSyndicate meets the Buyer's needs, protects their currenteProcurement investment and concurrently minimizes/eliminates effort fortheir Suppliers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1: ViniSyndicate and Catalog Sources, illustrates the kinds ofcatalog sources that ViniSyndicate can integrate to and the two modelsin which the catalog results can be made available to the end user (e.g.real-time and/or cached).

FIG. 2: ViniSyndicate User flow, illustrates how ViniSyndicate (henceforth referred to as VS) works in concert with the Buy-side procurementsystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Vinimaya Inc. is a privately held software company with a focus todevelop and bring to market innovative eBusiness software products basedon Intelligent Agent Technology. Its products are based on over 3 yearsof R&D, are built upon standard technology platforms such as Java andXML, and are designed to be easy to implement, maintain and operate.Vinimaya's flagship product “ViniSyndicate” is a buy-side eCatalogManagement System that uses Intelligent Agent Technology to extractdynamic, real-time product information directly from Suppliers' websites as they exist today, without the need for “XML punchout” and othercostly, invasive modifications. This document explains the motive,architecture and technologies behind the product ViniSyndicate developedand marketed by this company.

ViniSyndicate is a buy-side software solution, built on intelligentagent and XML technology, that enables a buy-side procurement system tobe integrated with a supplier's web presence without the need forimplementation of expensive sell-side punchout solutions by thesupplier. A user on the buy-side procurement system would be able todynamically convert catalog information resident on a supplier's website (or other web-enabled sources) into an XML shopping cart that couldbe fetched into the procurement system.

The solution combines a rich user experience associated with shopping ona supplier's web site with the necessary buy-side control that asourcing professional would need over what a general requisitioner wouldbe allowed to purchase. The features include live catalog content fromsupplier's web site, use of Intelligent Agents for standardizingsupplier catalog content, powerful, distributed search engine, dynamicXML cart generation, out-of-box integration with major procurementsystems, catalog management tools addressing buy-side needs such as SKUrestriction, UNSPSC codes and buyer part numbers, buyer specific productand pricing information, customizable User Interface with built-inGraphical User Interface (GUI) adaptors.

ViniSyndicate is a non-invasive approach to buyer-supplier relationship,using dynamic XML as a means of integration. This approach minimizes thetime-to-deploy and time-to-ROI when compared to alternate approaches.The ViniSyndicate Dynamic Syndication functionality allows users to takeadvantage of supplier hosted catalogs directly from the supplier's website. The system provides transport and translation of data from thesupplier to buy-side procurement system. It is written in Java and XML,runs on both Microsoft and Unix server platforms, and is compatible withall leading web application servers. ViniSyndicate's uniquefunctionality is derived by combining five major components into asingle, integrated, highly scalable software application. Listed beloware the five major components of ViniSyndicate . . . .

Component #1 is the Intelligent Agent Engine which retrieves productinformation, pricing, availability and other relevant information inreal-time, directly from Suppliers' web sites, eCommerce systems orother web-accessible sources using secure, standard open-systemHTTP/HTTPS protocol.

Component #2 is the Distributed Remote Search Engine, which performsremote searches on web-enabled, non-resident, distributed catalogsources. Also uses multi-tier searching techniques, which can utilizesupplier web site search engine or configurator and supports parametricsearching with relevancy.

Component #3 is the Parsing Engine, which turns unstructured,multi-format web site content into aggregated, structured eCatalogs andhas a flexible, user-defined data structure.

Component #4 is the eCatalog Engine which is Configurable andcustomizable and allows buy-side to define attributes, navigation, addbuyer part numbers, UNSPSC codes, custom pricing including buy-side toadd discounts, price breaks.

Component #5 is the XML Engine used for storing, reading, parsing,mapping and rendering and syndicating XML (eXtensible Markup Language)“documents” and integrates seamlessly with published interfaces fromleading buy-side eProcurement products from Ariba, Oracle, SAP, etc. viapublished XML interfaces such as cXML and OCI.

Implementing ViniSyndicate allows Buyers to implement supplier catalogsin days versus months or even years. ViniSyndicate is a unique, robustand cost-effective eCatalog solution that simplifies and acceleratesSupplier participation, quickly increasing transaction liquidity anddriving return-on-investment! They can quickly aggregate eCatalogs fromhundreds (if not thousands) of Supplier catalog sources which willincrease “transaction liquidity” and drive savings. ViniSyndicate fullyintegrates with leading buy-side eProcurement and Supply ChainManagement Products “out-of-the-box”.

Also, companies now get robust eCatalog management capabilities withless cost, less complexity because ViniSyndicate eliminates the need(and costs) for maintaining a large internal eCatalog data warehouse,eliminates data-transformation” costs (range from $4 to $10 per catalogline item) and requires less hardware, software, storage, outsideservices, people required than conventional solutions.

For Suppliers' participation in a customer's eProcurement program issimplified because there are almost no technical requirements for themwhen compared to conventional solutions. ViniSyndicate IntelligentAgents build a powerful bridge between the Buyers' eProcurementplatforms (e.g., Ariba Buyer, SAP B2B, Oracle iProcurement, etc.) andSuppliers' web sites and other eCommerce systems. This leverages theSuppliers' existing eCommerce environment, without requiring additionalinvestment and extensive effort on their part to meet each Buyer'sspecific eCatalog needs. (Estimates for punchout-enabled websites>$100,000 per site). No need for Suppliers to support dozens ofcatalog formats—cXML, xCBL, EDI 832, etc. Immediate buy-side access to“real-time” information such as product availability and inventoryoverruns.

Despite using the supplier's web site, the Buyer still controls theprocess and can configure and administer the eCatalog user interface,add or remove catalogs quickly and easily, and add their ownBuyer-specific, value-added information—part numbers, contract pricing,etc.

Intelligent Agents are software entities that can act on behalf of auser or a system. Simply put, the central idea underlying IntelligentAgents is “delegation”. Most Intelligent Agent-based softwareapplications in use today are designed to find and filter information,automate tasks, and communicate with systems, much like an end userwould. They can be found in many of the Internet search engines in usetoday (e.g., Google, Ask Jeeves) as well as in many network managementsystems (e.g., CA Unicenter). These types of agents are designed to bevery task-specific and work in a well-defined environment.

The class of Intelligent Agents used in Vinimaya's products goes to thenext level of performance and capability. In addition to being able toperform the aforementioned tasks (find and filter data, automateprocesses, etc.), the agents are now able to apply rules within thedomain of their application. This capability allows the agents to dealwith the non-standard and unstructured world of B2B eCommerce, whereinconsistent data formats, disparate protocols, incompatible systems andsubjective information is the norm. Additionally, Vinimaya products areconsidered “multi-agent systems”, which means that the agents cancollaborate with other agents within the environment—a very complexconcept to implement into a commercial product—it is also very powerfulwhen efficiency, speed and accuracy are the priority, which is alwaysthe case in B23 eCommerce.

In their current application in Vinimaya's ViniSyndicate eCatalogManagement System, the Intelligent Agents are configured to interactwith Supplier web sites and eCommerce systems on behalf of the Buyer,automating the locating, translating, enhancing and organizing ofproduct information as required by the Buyer's eProcurement system. Thisreal-time approach is significantly easier and faster to deploy thantoday's current static data-intensive approaches.

A User on the browser-based procurement system could get to VS byclicking on an external catalog source link named ViniSyndicate (Mostprocurement systems provide this functionality to access an externalcatalog source). Once in VS, the User can search across multiplesupplier catalogs categorized under standard commodity groups. Thesearch results could be sorted, and the User can refine the set ofresults to find exactly what he/she is looking for. The User can thenadd the items to a shopping cart, and can either continue shopping on VSor return back with the cart into the procurement system. Once back onprocurement system, the User proceeds with the usual workflow associatedwith creating a purchase requisition for approval.

Glossary

Java™—Java is a programming language expressly designed for use in thedistributed environment of the Internet. It was designed to have the“look and feel” of the C++ language, but it is simpler to use than C++and enforces an object-oriented programming model. Java can be used tocreate complete applications that may run on a single computer or bedistributed among servers and clients in a network. It can also be usedto build a small application module or applet for use as part of a Webpage.

JavaBeans™—The JavaBeans component architecture is the platform-neutralarchitecture for the Java application environment. It's the ideal choicefor developing or assembling network-aware solutions for heterogeneoushardware and operating system environments—within the enterprise oracross the Internet. The JavaBeans component architecture extends “WriteOnce, Run Anywhere™” capability to reusable component development.Software components that use JavaBeans are thus portable to containersincluding Internet Explorer, Visual Basic, Microsoft Word, Lotus Notes,and others. The JavaBeans specification defines a set of standardcomponent software APIs for the Java platform.

JavaServer Pages™ (JSP™)—JavaServer Pages technology is aimed atcreating WebPages that are information rich and dynamic. JavaServerpages technology is an extension of the Java™ technology. JSP technologyenables rapid development of web-based applications that are platformindependent. JavaServer Pages technology separates the user interfacefrom content generation enabling designers to change the overall pagelayout without altering the underlying dynamic content. JavaServer Pagestechnology uses tags and scriptlets written in the Java programminglanguage to encapsulate the logic that generates the content for thepage, Additionally, the application logic can reside in server-basedresources like JavaBeans™ component architecture, By separating the pagelogic from its design and display and supporting a reusablecomponent-based design, JSP technology makes it faster and easier thanever to build web-based applications.

Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)—JDBC is an application programinterface (API) specification for connecting programs written in Java tothe data in popular database technologies.

Structured Query Language (SQL)—SQL is a language used to interrogateand process data in a relational database. Originally developed by IBMfor its mainframes, all database systems designed for client/serverenvironments support SQL. SQL commands can be used to interactively workwith a database or can be embedded within a programming language tointerface to a database. Programming extensions to SQL have turned itinto a full-blown database programming language.

Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) HTML is the set of markup symbols orcodes inserted in a file intended for display on a World Wide Webbrowser page. The markup tells the Web browser how to display a Webpage's words and images for the user. Each individual markup code isreferred to as an element or tag. Some elements come in pairs thatindicate when some display effect is to begin and when it is to end.HTML is a formal Recommendation by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)and is generally adhered to by the major browsers, Microsoft's InternetExplorer and Netscape's Navigator, which also provide some additionalnon-standard codes.

Extensible Markup Language (XML) XML is a set of rules for definingsemantic tags that break a document into parts and identify thedifferent parts of the document. It is a meta-markup language thatdefines a syntax used to define other domain-specific, semantic,structured markup languages and provides a flexible way to create commoninformation formats and share both the format and the data on the WorldWide Web, intranets, and elsewhere. For example, computer makers mightagree on a standard or common way to describe the information about acomputer product (processor speed, memory size, and so forth) and thendescribe the product information format with XML. Any individual orgroup of individuals or companies that wants to share information in aconsistent way can use XML.

JavaScript—JavaScript is the scripting language of the Internet. It isthe most popular scripting language on the World Wide Web and is used inmillions of Web pages to power rich, interactive content andincreasingly powerful web applications. JavaScript is the “glue” thatbinds together HTML and XML elements accessed through the browser'sDocument Object Model (DOM), JavaScript scripts, Java applets, andplug-ins and allows these objects to communicate and interoperate.JavaScript can be used both on the client (CSJS) and on the server(SSJS). The JavaScript language can also be used across browsers,applications, platforms, and devices, making it the language of choicefor building next-generation web applications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for integrating a procurement systemwith a plurality of electronic catalog sources comprising: a computersystem comprising one or more memories storing software instructions,and one or more processors configured to execute the softwareinstructions to perform operations of a computerized syndicationcomponent, including: receiving a query, for a product, from aprocurement system; searching for the query, in real-time, over theInternet, using a plurality of supplier web site search engines toaccess a set of disparate electronic catalog sources wherein eachelectronic catalog source has its own search engine; locating a set ofproduct information associated with the query in at least one of saidplurality of electronic catalogs: retrieving said set of productinformation; translating said set of product information into astandardized format compatible with the procurement system regardless ofthe format of the product information retrieved from the Web-basedcatalog sources; enhancing said set of product information with a set ofattributes stored in said syndication component that are defined by aspecific buyer; and rendering a document comprising a set ofstandardized, enhance product information for display in the procurementsystem.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein said disparate electroniccatalogs sources may comprise different formats, syndication approaches,technologies and taxonomies.
 3. The system of claim 2 wherein one ormore of said disparate electronic catalogs are configured according to aformat chosen from the group consisting of CIF, ebXML, and xCBL.
 4. Thesystem of claim 2 wherein one or more of said disparate electroniccatalogs are configured according to a syndication approach chosen fromthe group consisting of OBI and cXML punchout.
 5. The system of claim 2wherein one or more of said disparate electronic catalogs are configuredaccording to a technology chosen from the group consisting of XML andEDI.
 6. The system of claim 2 wherein one or more of said disparateelectronic catalogs are configured according to a taxonomy chosen fromthe group consisting of UNSPSC and eClass.
 7. The system of claim 1wherein said set of attributes defined by a specific buyer comprisepricing, part numbers, and UNSPSC codes.
 8. The system of claim 1wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute thesoftware instructions to locate, using a multi-tier searching technique,for each set of product information retrieved, a product, price andavailability associated with said query when searching said set ofdisparate electronic catalog source wherein each set of productinformation.
 9. The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more processorsare configured to execute the software instructions to translate one ormore sets of product information from unstructured, multi-format website content into an aggregated, structured electronic catalog which isconfigured according to a user-defined data structure.
 10. The system ofclaim 9 wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute thesoftware instructions to provide a user interface to allow a user todefine attributes, navigation, buyer-part numbers, UNSPSC codes, custompricing and discounts to enhance said sets of product informationretrieved in response to running the query.